Soft Drink Consumption and Suicide Attempts in Adolescents: The Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey

Jaelim Cho,Do Eun Park,Jeong Lim Kim

doi:10.21767/2572-5483.100009

Abstract

Evidence regarding mental health problems caused by related to excessive beverage intake is growing, but it is unclear which types of beverage increase mental health risks and at what level of consumption. We investigated the association between beverage intake and suicide attempts in a nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents. We used the cross-sectional data of the 11th Korean Youth Risk Behavior web-based Survey, which adopted an internet-based, self-reported questionnaire with anonymity. We estimated the odds ratios (ORs) and used 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) with multiple logistic regression models. In total, 68,043 adolescents participated in this study, and 1,662 (2.4%) reported a suicide attempt in the last 12 months. Students who drink carbonated beverages more than 5–6 times per week had higher odds of attempting suicide (OR, 3.237; 95% CI, 2.272–4.613). Adolescents who drink energy drinks more than three times per day had approximately five times higher odds of attempting suicide (OR, 5.203; 95% CI, 3.194–8.474). Beverage intake of more than three times a day was positively associated with suicide attempt in Korean adolescents. In particular, energy drink consumption was in robust, positive association with suicide attempt.

Highlights

Suicide is one of many public health challenges in developed countries, among the youths, being the second leading cause of mortality in individuals aged 10–24 years according to the World Health Organization [1]
68,043 adolescents participated in this study, and 1,662 (2.4%) reported a suicide attempt during the last 12 months (Table 1)
In the nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents, we found that higher beverage intake was positively associated with suicide attempts

Summary

Introduction

Suicide is one of many public health challenges in developed countries, among the youths, being the second leading cause of mortality in individuals aged 10–24 years according to the World Health Organization [1]. Suicide attempts in adolescents are more likely to be impulsive, so their relationship with beverages that may cause aggressiveness and impulsiveness such as high-caffeine drinks [9] would need to be identified for suicide prevention. We investigated the association between beverage intake and suicide attempts in a nationally representative sample of Korean adolescents. We divided the beverage into types such as soda, high-caffeine, and other sweetened drinks, and compared the strengths of their associations with suicide attempts

Methods

Results

Conclusion